Toasted Walnut Cole Slaw Recipe

This recipe was adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, Super Natural Cooking. The author, Heidi Swanson, also has a blog that I love, 101cookbooks.com. She re-inspires me time after time with her whole foods creations.

What’s so delicious about this cole slaw is it’s unexpected sweetness that comes from shredded apples, and crunch from lightly toasted walnuts and pecans, making this a great barbecue side, or cool summer salad.

Ingredients ~ I modified this recipe by adding/combining a couple ingredients.

1/2 head of savoy cabbage, shredded

1/2 head of purple cabbage, shredded

1 large apple, shredded (I used a fuji apple)

1/2 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped

1/2 cup pecans, lightly toasted and roughly chopped

Dressing

Juice from one whole lemon, plus extra for soaking apples

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Splash of cream (I used half and half)

Fine-grain sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

Shred cabbage and apple using a grater, or using an attachment on a food processor, or thinly sliced by hand.  Place shredded apples in a medium bowl filled halfway with water and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, to help prevent apples from browning. After a minute or so of soaking in lemon water, drain apples.

To toast the walnuts and pecans, preheat oven to 350 degrees °F, spread nuts in whole form on a baking sheet and lightly toast for 10 minutes. Let cool. Roughly chop nuts before mixing into salad.

To prepare the dressing, simply mix all dressing ingredients together. In a large  bowl, toss dressing with shredded cabbage and shredded apples. When you’re ready to serve the cole slaw, mix in walnuts so they keep their intense crunch.